Special Costco Members Get To Shop Earlier Than Everyone Else

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Jul 7, 8:06AM EDT

Special Costco Members Get To Shop Earlier Than Everyone Else — © 2020 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Costco (NYSE: COST | COST Price Prediction) is not like any other major retailer. People have to pay to shop there. Over 136 million people have decided to do so. Last year, membership fees brought in $4.8 billion from its 891 warehouse locations.

There are two primary levels of membership at Costco. One is “Gold” members who pay $65 a year. The other is “Executive” members who pay $130 a year. The “Executive” members receive special privileges, including 2% cash back on their purchases, access to home and car insurance, and travel products. Costco has 38 million “Executive” members.

There is a new reason to be an “Executive” member. You get to go into Costco stores earlier than everyone else. The “Executive” members can enter warehouses from 9 am to 10 am, Sunday through Friday. On Saturdays, the time is from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The other members can access the facility from 10 am on Sundays through Fridays and at 9:30 am on Saturdays.

Costco announced the changes on its website. They took effect on June 30. One of the reasons Costco offered the deal is that it raised its rates. “Executive” members had a $10 increase per year last September. The new level of awards they can earn has increased from $1,000 to $1,250. According to CNN, these members account for 72% of Costco’s revenue.

Costco did not give a reason for the change. However, since “Executive” members account for such a large portion of Costco’s revenue, it makes sense to offer extra benefits that could increase the percentage of “Executive” members among the total.

Costco has done well recently. In the most recently reported quarter, comparable store sales increased 8% year-over-year. Revenue rose from $58.5 billion to $62.3 billion. EPS rose from $3.79 to $4.29. Long-term investors have been rewarded. Over the last five years, the stock has increased by 202%, while the S&P 500 has risen by 98%.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.